


Pamphlet

by patchfire, raving_liberal



Series: Three Small Boys [6]
Category: Glee
Genre: Facial Shaving, Father-Son Relationship, Gen, Puberty
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-12
Updated: 2014-10-12
Packaged: 2018-02-20 23:08:20
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 680
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2446484
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/patchfire/pseuds/patchfire, https://archiveofourown.org/users/raving_liberal/pseuds/raving_liberal
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Kurt buys the expensive razors, even if he doesn't need them yet.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Pamphlet

Four months after Kurt first includes shaving cream with his Lush order, and three months after he spends an embarrassingly long time in the CVS on Bellafontaine studying the different brands and types of razors, his father leaves a package of Meijer brand razors and a can of Barbasol in Kurt’s bathroom. 

What Kurt can admit to himself, halfway through his freshman year of high school, is that he didn’t and doesn’t need the shaving cream or the razors that he had bought. He doesn’t show any sign of needing them anytime soon, either, and that leaves a sour taste in his mouth when he contemplates what his father left. 

Is it some kind of grotesque assumption, that because Kurt is nearly sixteen, he’ll surely need them soon? Is it purely lack of attention to detail, suggesting Burt hasn’t noticed at all that Kurt doesn’t actually need to shave? Or, worse, is it somewhat mocking, reminding Kurt that _most_ fifteen year old boys are shaving? 

The worst is two days later, when a pamphlet shows up in the exact place where the Barbasol is still sitting, one corner stuck under the can. Kurt isn’t sure what decade it has recently arrived from, and the idea that he needs a pamphlet when he’s watched his father shave hundreds of time feels like yet another slight. 

Is he so much _not_ a man in his father’s eyes that his father thinks he needs to learn from a pamphlet? Is his father so uncomfortable around him that he can’t stand to say something to Kurt directly? Kurt sighs and considers not saying anything. He considers throwing out the Meijer razors and the Barbasol, but that seems wasteful. Finally, he decides that he’ll put them in his dad’s bathroom one morning, and then tell his dad over breakfast, just before time to leave for school, just in case it gets as uncomfortable as Kurt fears. 

Wednesday morning seems like as good of a morning as any; Burt is through with his shower and in the living room watching _Fox 45 In the Morning_ as Kurt heads up the stairs. Kurt walks as quietly as he can through the kitchen and down the hall to his dad’s bathroom. He pulls the razors and shaving cream out of his bag and then walks back to the kitchen, pulling out a bagel and starting to toast it as Burt enters. 

“I put the razors and the Barbasol in your room,” Kurt says as he opens the refrigerator to retrieve the cream cheese. 

“What? Was it not the right kind?” Burt asks. 

“I don’t actually need it right now,” Kurt says flatly. “And I bought some a few months ago online.” 

“Oh. Okay, then. I’ll just hang on to ‘em in case we need ‘em later,” Burt says. “Better to have some extra stashed somewhere, you know?’

“I suppose.” Kurt sighs. “I don’t know. I’m sure I’ll let you know eventually.” 

“If you need anything else, just tell me, and I can pick it up,” Burt says. “If there’s some kind of fancy expensive razor or something.”

“Okay, Dad,” Kurt says as his bagel pops up, wishing he could end the conversation. He still isn’t sure why the razors and Barbasol appeared in the first place, and he focuses on his cream cheese for a few moments before putting the knife in the sink. “I think I’m set for now.” 

Kurt doesn’t say anything else on the ride to school, and neither does Burt, leaving Kurt to continue wondering what Burt’s intentions are. As they reach McKinley, Kurt decides that he may as well give Burt the benefit of the doubt, and chalk it up to some kind of odd parenting decision. Maybe there was a discussion on the radio or the news, even. 

“Bye, Dad,” Kurt says, mustering most of a smile for Burt before turning towards the school and steeling himself. He doesn’t need to shave, not yet, but he still manipulates his face, every day, smiling for his dad, never smiling for anyone at school.


End file.
